CN110198210B

CN110198210B - System and method for multipoint communication

Info

Publication number: CN110198210B
Application number: CN201910498488.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 曲秉玉; 肖维民; 刘佳林
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2012-07-27
Filing date: 2013-07-26
Publication date: 2021-10-26
Anticipated expiration: 2033-07-26
Also published as: CN104509191A; AU2013295531A1; EP2870813A4; US10356762B2; JP6135879B2; US20170208584A1; EP2870813B1; AU2013295531B2; WO2014018914A1; US20140029584A1; JP2017118561A; EP2870813A1; JP6434551B2; CN104509191B; JP2015527834A; CN110198210A; US9615360B2

Abstract

A method for multicast communication includes configuring a set of first communication system resources to form a plurality of sets of first communication system resources, each set of first communication system resources including a plurality of channels (block 910), and configuring a set of second communication system resources for each set of first communication system resources of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources, the set of second communication system resources being used to transmit a feedback transmission (block 915). The method also includes signaling information regarding the plurality of first communication system resource groups to a first user equipment (block 920), and signaling information regarding the second set of communication system resources associated with the plurality of first communication system resource groups to the first user equipment (block 920).

Description

System and method for multipoint communication

The present invention claims prior application priority of united states non-provisional application No. 13/952376 entitled "System and Method for Multiple Point Communications" filed on 7/26/2013 and united states provisional application No. 61/676643 entitled "Multiple Point Communication Method and System" (a Multiple Point Communication Method and System) filed on 7/27/2012, both of which are incorporated by reference into this document as if reproduced in full.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to digital communications, and more particularly to a system and method for multipoint communications.

Background

Typically, in a communication system, such as a third generation partnership project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) compliant communication system, there are a plurality of communication controllers. The plurality of communication controllers serve the communication devices by controlling communication to or from the communication devices. The communication controllers may also be generally referred to as enhanced nodebs (enbs), nodebs, base stations, etc. A communication device may also be referred to generally as a User Equipment (UE), a mobile station, a user, a subscriber, a terminal, and so on. As shown in fig. 1a, communication system 100 includes eNB105, UEs 110 and 112. Transmissions from the eNB105 to the UE110 are referred to as Downlink (DL) transmissions and transmissions from the UE112 to the eNB105 are referred to as Uplink (UL) transmissions.

Carrier Aggregation (CA) and coordinated multipoint (CoMP) operations have been proposed as techniques for improving communication performance. In CA, multiple component carriers may be aggregated to support synchronous transmission to or reception from a UE. In CoMP, multiple communication points (or simply, multiple points) may be coordinated to serve a UE. A point is a transmission point if it is transmitting or a reception point if it is receiving. For example, two transmission points may transmit to the UE on different component carriers separately, or multiple transmission points may coordinate to transmit to the UE. Similarly, a UE may transmit to multiple receiving points on different component carriers, or a UE may transmit to multiple receiving points.

Disclosure of Invention

Example embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for multipoint communication.

According to an example embodiment of the present invention, a method for multipoint communication is provided. The method includes a controller device configuring a set of first communication system resources to form a plurality of sets of first communication system resources, each set of first communication system resources including a plurality of channels, and the controller device configuring a set of second communication system resources for each set of first communication system resources of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources, the set of second communication system resources being used for transmitting feedback transmissions. The method further comprises the controller device signaling information about the plurality of first communication system resource groups to a first user equipment, and the controller device signaling information about the second set of communication system resources associated with the plurality of first communication system resource groups to the first user equipment.

According to another example embodiment of the present invention, a method for multipoint communication is provided. The method comprises receiving, at a user equipment, information from a communication controller regarding a plurality of first communication system resource groups configured in a communication system, each first communication system resource group comprising a plurality of channels; and receiving, at the user equipment, information on the set of first communication system resources for feedback transmission for each of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources. The method further comprises the user equipment decoding the channels of the plurality of first communication system resource groups according to the information on the plurality of first communication system resource groups; and the user equipment transmitting feedback reflecting the decoding of the channel, wherein the transmitting is based on the information on the first set of communication system resources.

According to another example embodiment of the present invention, a controller device is provided. The controller device includes a processor and a transmitter operatively coupled to the processor. The processor designates a set of first communication system resources to form a plurality of first communication system resource groups, each first communication system resource group including a plurality of channels, and designates a set of second communication system resources for each of the plurality of first communication system resource groups, the set of second communication system resources being used for transmitting feedback transmissions. The transmitter signals information regarding the plurality of first communication system resource groups to a first user equipment and signals information regarding the second set of communication system resources associated with the plurality of first communication resource groups to the first user equipment.

According to another example embodiment of the present invention, a user equipment is provided. The user equipment includes a receiver, a processor operably coupled to the receiver, and a transmitter operably coupled to the processor. The receiver receiving information on a plurality of first communication system resource groups of a communication system from a controller device, each first communication system resource group including a plurality of channels; and receiving information from the controller device regarding the set of first communication system resources for feedback transmission for each of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources. The processor decodes the channels of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources according to the information on the plurality of sets of first communication system resources. The transmitter sends feedback reflecting the decoding of the channel, wherein the sending is based on the information regarding the first set of communication system resources.

Based on embodiments of the present invention, various examples of the inventive arrangements are provided below:

example 1: a method for multipoint communications, the method comprising: the controller device configuring a set of first communication system resources to form a plurality of first communication system resource groups, each first communication system resource group comprising a plurality of channels; the controller device configures a second set of communication system resources for each of a plurality of first communication system resource groups, the second set of communication system resources being used for transmitting feedback transmissions; the control device signals information on the plurality of first communication system resource groups to a first user device; and the controller device signals information to the first user equipment regarding the set of second communication system resources associated with the plurality of first communication system resource groups.

Example 2: the method of example 1, further comprising: transmitting data regarding at least one of the first set of communication system resources to the first user equipment; and receiving decoded feedback information reflecting data transmitted on at least one of the first set of communication system resources.

Example 3: the method of example 1, the first set of communication system resources comprising hybrid automatic repeat request processes, wherein each of the second set of communication system resources comprises a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement channel in an uplink subframe.

Example 4: the method of example 1, the first set of communication system resources is configured in accordance with characteristics of a backhaul connection between one or more cells associated with the first set of communication system resources.

Example 5: the method of example 4, the one or more cells comprising at least one of a virtual cell or a full-featured cell.

Example 6: the method of example 4, the characteristic of the backhaul connection comprising at least one of: a latency of the backhaul connection, a latency threshold of the backhaul connection, a latency range of the backhaul connection, a data rate of the backhaul connection, and a bandwidth of the backhaul connection.

Example 7: the method of example 4, a first cell associated with a first one of the first set of communication system resources is connected over a first backhaul connection having the characteristic.

Example 8: the method of example 7, wherein a second cell associated with a second one of the first set of communication system resources is connected via a second backhaul connection having the characteristic.

Example 9: the method of example 8, the first cell and the second cell connected by a third backhaul connection without the feature.

Example 10: the method of example 1, further comprising: configuring a third set of communication system resources to form a plurality of third communication system resource groups; configuring a fourth communication system resource set for each third communication system resource set; signaling information about the plurality of third communication system resource groups to a second user equipment; and signaling information about the fourth set of communication system resources associated with the plurality of third sets of communication system resources to the second user equipment.

Example 11: the method of example 10, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of generalized cell identities and channels, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises generalized user equipment identities.

Example 12: the method of example 10, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of generalized cell identity and channel, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises at least one of scheduling request resources and buffer status reports.

Example 13: the method of example 10, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of a generalized cell identity and a channel, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), wherein configuring the fourth set of communication system resources comprises configuring whether simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and the PUSCH is on or off.

Example 14: the method of example 10, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of generalized cell identity and channel, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises at least one of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH), wherein configuring the fourth set of communication system resources comprises configuring cross-cell scheduling of at least one of the PUCCH and the EPDCCH.

Example 15: the method of example 10, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of a generalized cell identity and a channel, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises uplink transmission power.

Example 16: the method of example 10, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of a generalized cell identity and a channel, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises time advance signaling.

Example 17: the method of example 10, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of a generalized cell identity and a channel, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises one of a PDCCH and an EPDCCH indicating a sequence group associated with the one of the generalized cell identity and the channel.

Example 18: the method of example 10, the set of third communication system resources comprising a set of demodulation reference signals for a downlink shared physical channel (PDSCH), wherein each of the set of fourth communication system resources comprises a PDCCH or EPDCCH channel to indicate a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) belonging to the set of demodulation reference channels for the PDSCH.

Example 19: the method of example 10, the set of third communication system resources comprising a set of demodulation reference signals for an uplink shared physical channel (PUSCH), wherein each of the set of fourth communication system resources comprises a PDCCH or EPDCCH channel to indicate a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) belonging to the set of demodulation reference channels for the PUSCH.

Example 20: the method of example 10, the set of third communication system resources comprising a set of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), wherein each of the set of fourth communication system resources comprises one of a PDCCH and an EPDCCH to trigger a Channel State Information (CSI) report of one of the set of CSI-RS.

Example 21: the method of example 10, the fourth set of communication system resources is configured independently for each of the third set of communication system resources.

Example 22: the method of example 10, the third set of communication system resources comprising generalized cell identities and associated channels and the fourth set of communication system resources comprising generalized cell identities and associated channels.

Example 23: a method for multipoint communications, the method comprising: receiving, at a user equipment, information from a communication controller about a plurality of first communication system resource groups configured in a communication system, each first communication system resource group comprising a plurality of channels; receiving, at the user equipment, information on a set of first communication system resources for feedback transmission for each of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources; the user equipment decodes the channels of the plurality of first communication system resource groups according to the information on the plurality of first communication system resource groups; and the user equipment transmitting feedback reflecting the decoding of the channel, wherein the transmitting is based on the information on the first set of communication system resources.

Example 24: the method of example 23, the decoding the channel comprising: decoding channel resources associated with the channel; generating positive feedback for each successfully decoded channel; and generating negative feedback for each successfully decoded channel.

Example 25: the method of example 23, the information regarding the plurality of first communication system resource groups comprises a generalized cell identity.

Example 26: the method of example 23, further comprising: information is received for each of a plurality of second communication system resource groups regarding a set of second communication system resources.

Example 27: the method of example 26, further comprising: receiving information on the plurality of second communication resource groups.

Example 28: the method of example 26, the plurality of second communication system resource groups is the plurality of first communication system resource groups.

Example 29: the method of example 26, the second communication system resource comprising a generalized user equipment identity.

Example 30: a controller device, comprising: a processor configured to designate a set of first communication system resources to form a plurality of sets of first communication system resources, each set of first communication system resources comprising a plurality of channels, and to designate a set of second communication system resources for each set of first communication system resources of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources, the set of second communication system resources being used for transmitting feedback transmissions; and a transmitter operatively coupled to the processor, the transmitter to signal information to a first user equipment regarding the plurality of first communication system resource sets and to signal information to the first user equipment regarding the second set of communication system resources associated with the plurality of first communication system resource sets.

Example 31: the controller device of example 30, the transmitter to transmit data for at least one of the first set of communication system resources to the first user equipment, wherein the controller device further comprises a receiver operatively coupled to the processor, the receiver to receive feedback information reflecting decoding of data transmitted on at least one of the first set of communication system resources.

Example 32: the controller device of example 30, the processor to specify a third set of communication system resources to form a plurality of third set of communication system resources, and to specify a fourth set of communication system resources for each of the third set of communication system resources, wherein the transmitter is to signal information about the plurality of third set of communication system resources to a second user equipment, and to signal information about the fourth set of communication system resources associated with the plurality of third set of communication system resources to the second user equipment.

Example 33: the controller device of example 32, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of generalized cell identities and channels, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises a generalized user equipment identity.

Example 34: the controller device of example 32, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of generalized cell identity and channel, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises at least one of scheduling request resources and buffer status reports.

Example 35: the controller device of example 32, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of a generalized cell identity and a channel, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), wherein configuring the fourth set of communication system resources comprises configuring whether simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and the PUSCH is on or off.

Example 36: the controller device of example 32, the third set of communication system resources comprising one of a generalized cell identity and a channel, wherein each of the fourth set of communication system resources comprises an uplink transmission power.

Example 37: the controller device of example 32, independently configuring the fourth set of communication system resources for each of the third set of communication system resources.

Example 38: a user equipment, comprising: a receiver for receiving information on a plurality of first communication system resource groups of a communication system from a controller device, each of the first communication system resource groups including a plurality of channels; and receiving information from the controller device regarding a set of first communication system resources for feedback transmission for each of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources; a processor operatively coupled to the receiver, the processor for decoding the channels of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources according to the information regarding the plurality of sets of first communication system resources; and a transmitter operatively coupled to the processor, the transmitter to transmit feedback reflecting the decoding of the channel, wherein the transmitting is based on the information regarding the first set of communication system resources.

Example 39: the user equipment of example 38, the processor to decode channel resources associated with the channel, generate positive feedback for each successfully decoded channel, and generate negative feedback for each successfully decoded channel.

Example 40: the user equipment of example 38, the receiver to receive information on a set of second communication system resources for each of a plurality of sets of second communication system resources.

Example 41: the user equipment of example 40, the receiver to receive information regarding the plurality of second communication resource groups.

Unlike UEs, one advantage of embodiments is that there is no need for fast backhaul connection Carrier Aggregation (CA) and/or coordinated multipoint (CoMP) operational participants. Thus, the flexibility of CA and/or CoMP operations is greater, allowing for higher communication system usage.

Another advantage of an embodiment is that communication system resources are configured according to backhaul characteristics, enabling management of CA and/or CoMP operations to be managed according to the same backhaul characteristics. Therefore, CA and/or CoMP operation management is simpler.

Drawings

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1a illustrates an example communication system highlighting downstream and upstream communications according to example embodiments described herein;

figure 1b illustrates an example communication system highlighting CA and/or CoMP operations according to example embodiments described herein;

fig. 2a shows an example downlink frame according to an example embodiment described herein;

fig. 2b illustrates an example upstream frame according to example embodiments described herein;

fig. 3 illustrates an example downlink frame containing EPDCCH according to example embodiments described herein;

fig. 4 shows an exemplary diagram of a downlink frame according to an example embodiment described herein;

fig. 5a shows an example resource block used in the downlink of an LTE compliant communication system according to an example embodiment described herein;

fig. 5b shows an example resource block containing DMRS and CSI-RS;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example communication system according to example embodiments described herein;

fig. 7 illustrates an example communication system with generalized cells in accordance with example embodiments described herein;

fig. 8a illustrates an example communication system highlighting an example grouping of generalized cells according to example embodiments described herein;

figure 8b illustrates an example detailed view of a communication system resource grouping and use of a communication system resource group supporting CA and/or CoMP communications according to example embodiments described herein;

fig. 9 illustrates an example flow diagram of operations occurring in a centralized controller when the centralized controller is configured and/or in communication with a UE in accordance with example embodiments described herein;

fig. 10a illustrates an example flow diagram of operations occurring in a UE when the UE communicates with an eNB, where the communications use CA or CoMP, according to example embodiments described herein;

fig. 10b illustrates an example flow diagram of operations occurring in a UE when the UE communicates with an eNB over PDSCH and PUCCH according to example embodiments described herein, where the communications use CA or CoMP;

FIG. 11 illustrates example communication system resources according to example embodiments described herein;

fig. 12 illustrates an example flow diagram of operations involved in an interaction between an eNB and a UE when the UE is engaged in communication using CA or CoMP according to example embodiments described herein;

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary diagram of resources highlighted for cross-cell scheduling according to an example embodiment described herein;

fig. 14 shows an example diagram of highlighting the resources of a PUCCH and a PUCCH embedded in a PUSCH according to example embodiments described herein;

fig. 15 illustrates an example flow diagram of operations involved in an interaction between an eNB and a UE when the UE is engaged in communication using CA or CoMP and the eNB signals information about the communication using higher layer signaling;

FIG. 16 illustrates an example communication system highlighting resource management according to example embodiments described herein;

figure 17a shows an example communication configuration using CoMP according to example embodiments described herein;

figure 17b illustrates an example communication configuration using CA and CoMP according to example embodiments described herein;

fig. 18 shows an example first communication device according to an example embodiment described herein; and

fig. 19 illustrates an example second communication device according to example embodiments described herein.

Detailed Description

The operation of the present exemplary embodiment and its structure will be discussed in detail below. It should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific structures and modes for carrying out the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention.

One embodiment of the invention relates to multipoint communications. For example, the controller device configures a set of first communication system resources to form a plurality of sets of first communication system resources, each set of first communication system resources including a plurality of channels, and configures a set of second communication system resources for each set of first communication system resources of the plurality of sets of first communication system resources, the set of second communication system resources being used for transmitting feedback transmissions. The controller device also signals information to the first user equipment regarding the plurality of first communication system resource groups and signals information to the first user equipment regarding a second set of communication system resources associated with the plurality of first communication system resource groups. For another example, the user equipment receives information on a plurality of first communication system resource groups configured in the communication system from the communication controller, each of the first communication system resource groups including a plurality of channels; and receiving information about the set of first communication system resources for feedback transmission for each of the plurality of first communication system resource groups. The user equipment also decodes channels of the plurality of first communication system resource groups according to the information on the plurality of first communication system resource groups; and transmitting feedback reflecting channel decoding, wherein the transmitting is based on the information regarding the set of first communication system resources.

The present invention will be described with respect to example embodiments in a specific context of a communication system that is compliant with the third generation partnership project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) and supports CA and/or CoMP operations to increase overall communication system usage. However, the present invention is also applicable to other standard-compliant and non-standard-compliant communication systems that support CA and/or CoMP operations.

Fig. 1a shows a communication system 100 highlighting downstream and upstream communications. As shown in fig. 1a, communication system 100 includes eNB105,

UEs

110 and 112. Transmissions from the eNB105 to the UE110 are referred to as Downlink (DL) transmissions and transmissions from the UE112 to the eNB105 are referred to as Uplink (UL) transmissions. Although the communication system may employ multiple enbs that can communicate with many UEs, only one eNB and two UEs are shown herein for simplicity.

Fig. 1b illustrates communication system 150 highlighting CA and/or CoMP operations. Communication system 150 includes multiple enbs, such as eNB155, eNB157, and eNB 159. Communication system 150 also includes a plurality of UEs, such as UE160, UE162, and UE 164. eNB155 may transmit to UE160 as eNB157 transmits to UE 164. enbs 155-159 may transmit to UE162 using CA and/or CoMP, and UE164 may transmit to enbs 155 and 157 using CA and/or CoMP.

In LTE compliant communication systems, channels are allocated from communication system resources for the purpose of sending packets from an eNB to a UE (downlink transmission) or from a UE to an eNB (uplink transmission). Fig. 2a shows a downlink frame 200. As shown in fig. 2a, a data channel in the physical layer for transmitting downlink data packets from the eNB to the UE is called a downlink shared physical channel (PDSCH), such as PDSCH 205. The corresponding physical layer control channel from the eNB to the UE is referred to as a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), e.g., PDCCH210, and indicates the location of the PDSCH (e.g., time, frequency, or time and frequency). Fig. 2b shows an upstream frame 250. As shown in fig. 2b, a data channel in the physical layer for transmitting an uplink data packet from the UE to the eNB is called an uplink shared physical channel (PDSCH), e.g., PUSCH 255. The PDCCH in the corresponding downlink frame also indicates the location of the PUSCH.

Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is a technique used in LTE-compliant communication systems that allows a transmitting device to retransmit a packet if the receiving device cannot decode the packet. In general, a transmitting device applies a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) code to transmissions on the transport layer and transmits packets in the PDSCH or PUSCH. After the receiving device decodes the packet, if the CRC check passes, the receiving device sends back an Acknowledgement (ACK); if the CRC check fails, the receiving device sends back a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK). Typically, if the transmitting device receives a NACK, the transmitting device retransmits the packet.

When a UE (acting as a receiving device) cannot detect its PDCCH, the UE will not be able to receive the corresponding PDSCH as indicated in the PDCCH. The UE may send Discontinuous Transmission (DTX). In addition, the UE does not know whether the PDCCH is transmitted. The UE may send back a NACK if the UE correctly decodes its PDCCH, but the UE does not decode the corresponding PDSCH correctly. The eNB (as the transmitting device) may retransmit the packet if the feedback from the UE is NACK or DTX.

In an LTE-advanced compliant communication system, two or more Component Carriers (CCs), which are basic packet carriers, may be aggregated to support larger bandwidth transmissions. Each CC may have a20 MHz bandwidth. In LTE-a, there is one independent HARQ entity generating ACK/NACK feedback per CC. Each HARQ entity has an associated downlink control channel (PDCCH or enhanced PDCCH (epdcch)) to indicate the HARQ entity's information about PDSCH resource allocation. In LTE-a, if downlink transmission of PDSCH of a UE is scheduled simultaneously on multiple downlink CCs, ACK/NACK feedback for all downlink CCs may be sent on a single uplink CC. For example, in fig. 2b, PUSCH255 may be used to send uplink ACK/NACK feedback.

Fig. 3 shows a downlink frame 300 including an EPDCCH. As shown in fig. 3, the downlink frame 300 includes an EPDCCH305, and the EPDCCH305 may also be a downlink control channel having a similar function as the PDCCH, but the EPDCCH305 may be located in a data region 310 of the downlink frame 300 rather than being limited to being located in a control region 315 of the downlink frame 300. Demodulation of EPDCCH may be based on demodulation reference signal (DMRS) based instead of Common Reference Signal (CRS) for PDCCH.

Fig. 4 shows a diagram of a downlink frame 400. As shown in fig. 4, the downlink frame 400 includes a first downlink frame 405 and a second downlink frame 407. The PDCCH and/or EPDCCH may indicate PDSCH transmissions in a component carrier that is different from the component carrier of the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. In other words, the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH may be located in a component carrier indicated by the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH that is different from the component carrier of the PDSCH and/or PUSCH. The first downlink frame 405 may be located in a primary component carrier and include a first PDCCH410, the first PDCCH410 indicating a first PDSCH412 also located in the first downlink frame 405. The first downlink frame 405 further includes a second PDCCH415, the second PDCCH415 indicating a second PDSCH417 located in the second downlink frame 407, and the second downlink frame 407 being located in a second component carrier. The indication of PDSCH and/or PUSCH located in different component carriers may be referred to as cross-carrier scheduling. According to the 3GPP LTE release 10(Rel-10) technical specification, a component carrier is referred to as a cell. When multiple cells are controlled by a single eNB, scheduling across multiple cells may be implemented since there is a single scheduler within the single eNB to schedule communications in the multiple cells.

In general, there is a separate HARQ process per cell. There may be several techniques for sending multiple ACK/NACK feedbacks corresponding to multiple separate HARQ processes. In the first technique, multiple ACK/NAC feedbacks of up to 4 bits may be sent using format 1b with channel selection. In a second technique, a discrete fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) based mechanism (also referred to as format 3) may be used, with a capacity of up to 10 bits for ACK/NACK feedback. In both techniques, the eNB needs to inform the UE of the ACK/NACK resources to be used for sending multiple ACK/NACK feedbacks.

Fig. 5a shows a resource block 500 used in the downlink of an LTE compliant communication system. Resource block 500 includes reference signals, referred to as Common Reference Signals (CRS), which are used by UEs to perform channel estimation for demodulation of the PDCCH as well as other common channels. Resource block 500 shows possible CRS locations for two different antenna port configurations. The reference signal may be used for measurement and some form of feedback.

In a Rel-10 compliant communication system, a dedicated (or demodulation) reference signal (DMRS) may be transmitted together with a PDSCH. During PDSCH demodulation, DMRS is used for channel estimation. The DMRS may also transmit channel estimates for EPDCCH along with the EPDCCH to be used by the UE. Furthermore, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) may be used by UEs to measure channel state, particularly for various antenna deployments. For example, measurements of CSI-RS may be used to generate Precoding Matrix Indicators (PMIs), Channel Quality Indicators (CQIs), Rank Indicators (RIs), and so on. There are multiple CRI-RS resources configured for the UE, so there may be a specific time-frequency resource and scrambling code assigned by the eNB for each CSI-RS resource. Fig. 5b shows a resource block 550 containing DMRS and CSI-RS. Resource block 550 includes DMRS and CSI-RS for antenna port 4 configuration.

Fig. 6 illustrates a communication system 600. Communication system 600 may include macro cells, such as macro cell 605 and macro cell 607; and picocells such as picocell 610 and picocell 612. In general, a macro cell may be an eNB capable of transmitting at the maximum transmit power level of communication system 600, and thus may be referred to as a higher power node and/or antenna with a larger coverage area. Typically, macro cells are deployed by network operators and are part of the planning infrastructure. A picocell, on the other hand, is typically a lower power cell and transmits at a fraction of the maximum transmission level of the communication system 600, and thus may be referred to as a lower power node and/or antenna having a smaller coverage area. Pico cells may be deployed by network operators to provide coverage for areas where signals are weak or where UEs are very concentrated. Picocells may be deployed by subscribers of communication system 600 to help improve performance. The macro cell and the pico cell may serve UEs such as UE615, UE617, and UE 619. The communication system 600 may be referred to as a heterogeneous network (HetNet).

The communication system 600 may include a centralized controller 625. The centralized controller 625 may be a separate entity in the communication system 600 or may be co-located with another device, such as an eNB. The centralized controller 625 may configure the communication system resources for use in communications with CA and/or CoMP. The centralized controller 625 may communicate information about the configuration to the enbs and/or UEs that are in communication with each other. A centralized controller, whether a separate entity or co-located with another device, may be referred to as a controller device. The discussion presented herein focuses on the eNB performing configuration of communication system resources for use in communications with CA and/or CoMP. However, an independent entity, such as the centralized controller 625, may also perform the configuration of the communication system resources.

As an illustrative example, in a 3GPP LTE compliant communication system, the centralized controller 625 may be a standalone entity or it may be co-located with a macro eNB, pico eNB, controller of an eNB, coordination server, cluster center, cluster head, and so forth. Similarly, in a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) compliant communication system, the centralized controller 625 may be a separate entity or co-located with a Radio Network Controller (RNC), while in an international mobile telecommunications-multi-carrier (IMT-MC) compliant communication system, also commonly referred to as CDMA2000, the centralized controller 625 may be a separate entity or co-located with a Base Station Controller (BSC).

By using CA, an eNB can operate and control several component carriers forming a primary cell (or primary component) and one or more secondary cells (secondary components). In a 3GPP LTE release 11(Rel-11) compliant communication system, an eNB may control a macro cell and a pico cell. In this case, the backhaul between the macro cell and the pico cell is a fast backhaul, meaning that information about the macro cell and the pico cell can be shared with very little delay. Such backhaul may be referred to as fast backhaul or ideal backhaul. The eNB can dynamically control the transmission and/or reception of the macro and pico cells. PDCCH or EPDCCH transmitted from the macro cell may be used to indicate PDSCH and/or PUSCH transmitted by the pico cell.

In general, backhaul can be characterized according to delay equivalence metrics. As an illustrative example, a backhaul with a delay of 5 milliseconds (ms) or longer (one-way) may be considered a slow backhaul. Similarly, a backhaul with 5ms or less delay (one-way) may be considered a fast backhaul. In addition to latency, throughput (in bits per second (bps), e.g., mega (M) giga (G) bps) may also be used to classify the backhaul. Table 1 shows a characterization of several example backhauls. It is also possible to characterize the backhaul based on numbers that are relatively independent of current technology. For example, the delay of the backhaul can be expressed as the number of bits that can be transmitted, the number of symbols, the number of frames, the number of subframes, and so on. By utilizing the example provided above, the backhaul can be characterized as a fast backhaul if the latency of the backhaul is less than 5 subframes; or the backhaul may be characterized as slow backhaul if the delay of the backhaul is greater than 5 subframes. It should be noted that the example of 5ms and/or 5 subframes is for discussion purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope or spirit of example embodiments.

Backhaul techniques	Delay (one-way)	Throughput capacity	Characterization of
				Optical fiber 1	10-30ms	10M-10G bps	Slow
Optical fiber 2	5-10ms	100-1000M bps	Slow
				DSL	15-60ms	10-100M bps	Slow
Cable with a protective layer	25-35ms	10-100M bps	Slow
				Wireless	5-35ms	10-100M bps	Slow
Optical fiber 3	2-5ms	50M-10G bps	Fast-acting toy

Table 1: example backhaul characterization

However, in communication systems compliant with 3GPP LTE release 12(Rel-12) and above, the backhaul between the macro cell and the pico cell is no longer a fast backhaul. In other words, the backhaul may be a slow backhaul or a fast backhaul, which may be referred to as "any backhaul". If the backhaul is a slow backhaul, the PDCCH or EPDCCH transmitted by the macro cell typically cannot be used to indicate PDSCH and/or PUSCH transmitted from the pico cell, as information about the macro cell and the pico cell may not be shared in a fast enough manner. For example, if the delay of the backhaul is too large, the pico cell cannot share information about its available resources to the macro cell and eNB in time for the eNB to perform cross-carrier scheduling using PDCCH or EPDCCH transmitted by the macro cell, which indicates PDSCH and/or PUSCH transmitted from the pico cell.

In an actual HetNet deployment, there may be multiple macrocells and multiple picocells operating in multiple component carriers. Depending on the cell and deployment, the backhaul connecting any two cells may be a fast backhaul or a slow backhaul. In accordance with an example embodiment, a system and method are provided that enable diverse deployment and efficient communication. When there is a fast backhaul between two cells, techniques are used that leverage the fast backhaul to simplify communication between cells and improve coordination between cells. When there is a slow backhaul between two cells, a technique is used that enables communication to occur simultaneously with the slow backhaul. In a HetNet deployment, cells configured for UE transmission or reception may include more than two cells, with backhaul between some cell pairs being fast backhaul and backhaul between some other cell pairs being slow backhaul.

In general, an eNB may control one or more cells. Furthermore, multiple remote radio units or Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) may be connected to a single baseband unit (BBU) of the eNB by fiber optic cables, providing low latency backhaul between the BBU and the RRHs. Thus, the BBUs are able to perform the coordination required for the transmission and/or reception of multiple cell-to-UE transmissions. This type of communication is referred to as coordinated multipoint (CoMP) operation. When performing this coordination, the BBU allows multiple cells to transmit to the UE, which is referred to as CoMP transmission. When performing this coordination, the BBU allows multiple cells to receive from the UE, which is referred to as CoMP reception. When a BBU is connected to multiple cells through a fast backhaul, the BBU easily coordinates scheduling of PDSCH transmitted to UEs in different cells.

It should be noted that in some configurations, the eNB controlled transmission point may not be a fully characterized cell. Furthermore, the transmission point does not have the full functionality and/or characteristics of a full characteristic cell. For example, a transmission point may not transmit a broadcast channel. Such transmission points are referred to as virtual cells because they may send PDSCH channels and/or EPDCCH channels, as well as other channels associated with virtual cell identities that are signaled to UEs. The virtual cell identity is typically a value of a random scrambling sequence that may be used to generate PDSCH, EPDCCH, and/or other channels, just as the cell identity. For example, the virtual cell identity may be a value between 0 and 503. As another example, an eNB may control and coordinate multiple fully featured cells to communicate with a UE. However, through configuration and use of parameters, such as virtual cell identities, by the primary cell, some cells of full characteristics may be presented to the UE as virtual cells.

In CA, generally, it may be assumed that an eNB controls scheduling of PDSCH in multiple component carriers. If the component carrier is a Rel-8 compliant component carrier, it may be a cell defined according to the 3GPP LTE specification. However, the component carrier may not be a Rel-8 compatible component carrier. In this case, the component carrier may be a virtual cell. In general, an eNB may schedule PDSCH transmissions performed by multiple full-featured cells and/or virtual cells. A generalized cell may refer to a cell of full characteristics or a virtual cell, and a generalized cell identity may be used to represent an identity of a cell of full characteristics or a virtual cell.

Fig. 7 illustrates a communication system 700 with generalized cells. Communication system 700 includes a plurality of generalized cells, such as generalized cell 705, generalized cell 707, and generalized cell 709.

Generalized cells

705 and 707 may connect to BBU710 through a fast backhaul, while BBU710 connects to generalized cell 709 through a slow backhaul. In general, the form of backhaul between generalized cells may be a generalized interface between the resources of generalized cells. As shown in fig. 7, generalized cell 707 may communicate with

UEs

715 and 717, while generalized cell 709 may communicate with UE 719. As shown in fig. 7, generalized cell 705 may be a macro cell and generalized cell 707 may have a fast backhaul connection with generalized cell 705, since both are controlled by BBU 710. However, generalized cell 709 has a slow backhaul with generalized cell 705 and generalized cell 707. The communication system 700 can also include a centralized controller 725, where the centralized controller 725 can be a separate entity or co-located with another device, such as the BBU710, eNB, etc.

To simplify deployment, the backhaul for two generalized cells may be considered. This backhaul may have a large delay (slow backhaul). For example, if a generalized cell controlled by a first eNB does not have a fast backhaul link to a second generalized cell controlled by a second eNB, it may be difficult to perform dynamic coordinated scheduling between the first generalized cell and the second generalized cell. Therefore, in this case, communication using CA and/or CoMP as defined in release 11 may not be available. In the absence of fast backhaul, cross-carrier (or equivalently, cell) scheduling may not be supported for both component carriers. If two generalized cells are connected by a fast backhaul, they may perform dynamic coordinated scheduling using the fast backhaul to reduce the complexity of communication and/or increase the efficiency of communication using CA and/or CoMP.

According to example embodiments, practical deployment requirements with slow and/or fast backhaul are met. In particular, the UE may not need actual deployment information regarding fast and/or slow backhaul. In practice, the UE may need to know communication system parameters for communicating with the UE. For example, although two or more generalized cells may be connected via a fast backhaul, a technique may be used that only requires a slow backhaul to facilitate communication with UEs using CA and/or CoMP. For example, the use of techniques requiring only slow backhaul may reduce hardware and/or software complexity in the eNB required to support dynamic coordinated scheduling, which typically involves in some techniques that require fast backhaul to facilitate communication with UEs using CA and/or CoMP.

In release 10, CA is considered to have such a limitation: a single eNB controls multiple component carriers. Since an eNB may have a single Medium Access Control (MAC) entity that schedules transmission and/or reception of multiple component carriers, if a single eNB controls all component carriers configured for a UE, cross-carrier scheduling may be supported for all carrier components configured for the UE. In release 12 and above, carrier aggregation may utilize component carriers controlled by different enbs. Therefore, different components with different enbs need to be considered. In other words, a transmitting cell or a receiving cell involving CA may use different antennas and/or different component carriers. In addition, any two cells may be connected through a fast backhaul or a slow backhaul. Thus, techniques requiring dynamic coordinated scheduling may not be operable.

According to example embodiments, communication system resources may be grouped according to backhaul characteristics of cells involved in communications with a UE. The backhaul characteristics may include a delay of the backhaul connection, a delay threshold of the backhaul connection, a delay range of the backhaul connection, a data rate of the backhaul connection, a bandwidth of the backhaul connection, and so on. As an illustrative example, a first set of communication system resources accessible for communication with a UE and identified by a generalized cell identity (e.g., cell ID or virtual cell ID) can be configured as a plurality of communication system resource sets according to backhaul characteristics of the involved cells. Within each communication system resource group, a second set of communication system resources may be utilized to enable dynamic coordinated scheduling, cross-carrier scheduling, etc., of DMRS for PDSCH and/or PUSCH. Examples of the second communication system resource include a channel, a procedure, and the like.

In the case of providing a first set of communication system resources including cells of full characteristics (including primary and secondary cells, as defined in connection with CA) and virtual cells (including first communication system nodes sharing a cell identity with second communication system nodes in CoMP operation), and a second set of communication system resources (e.g., PDSCH, PDCCH and/or EPDCCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, etc.) associated with the full characteristic cells and virtual cells, and backhaul features of the connecting cells (including fast or slow backhaul), it is possible to manage the communication system resources to simplify communication system and/or UE operation while fully utilizing the capabilities of the communication system.

According to an example embodiment, an entity (e.g., a centralized controller, an eNB, etc.) may divide communication system resources belonging to a first set of communication system resources into a plurality of communication system resource groups and signal information regarding the first set of communication system resources (and the plurality of communication system resource groups) to a UE. The UE may utilize the information for signal processing purposes, such as transmission, reception, measurement, feedback, and so on. Example first communication system resources include CSI-RS, cell and/or point, PDSCH HARQ procedures, channels (e.g., PDCCH and/or EPDCCH), DMRS, and so on. The signal processing performed for each set of communication system resources is similar to conventional techniques, such as CA and/or CoMP communication controlled by a single eNB, i.e., CA and/or CoMP communication is performed over fast backhaul connected cells. However, the signal processing is different for different sets of communication system resources.

In general, in a communication system, there may be multiple full-featured cells, virtual cells, or a combination thereof serving a UE. A cell identity (cell ID or virtual cell ID) exists for each cell (full featured cell or virtual cell). The cell identity may be used to generate scrambling codes for PDCCH and/or EPDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, etc. channels, or to generate DMRS for EPDCCH or PDSCH. For virtual cells, such as non-compliant points or non-compliant component carriers, signaling may be performed to inform the UE of the cell identity (virtual cell ID) of the scrambling code to be used for generating the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, etc. channels, or the scrambling code to generate the DMRS of EPDCCH or PDSCH. It should be noted that when two or more generalized cell identities have the same value, there may be other parameters, such as the frequency of the component carrier, that may be used to distinguish the two generalized cells. As an illustrative example, two generalized cells in two different component carriers may have the same generalized cell identification value. Thus, a generalized cell may be uniquely identified by its generalized cell identification value and its component carrier frequency, component carrier bandwidth, etc. In the discussion presented herein, it is generally believed that for reasons of brevity, there is a one-to-one correspondence between generalized cells and their generalized cell identities. However, it should be understood that information on component carrier frequencies, component carrier bandwidths, etc. may also be used to uniquely specify a generalized cell. For each generalized cell, it may be assumed that there is a channel transmitted from or received by the generalized cell.

Fig. 8a illustrates a communication system 800 highlighting an example of grouping generalized cells. Some generalized cells in the communication system 800 may be divided into two groups, a first communication system resource group 805 and a second communication system resource group 807. Devices such as a centralized controller or eNB may group communication system resources according to backhaul characteristics of a backhaul connecting generalized cells in communication system 800. As an illustrative example, generalized cell 810 and generalized cell 812 may be connected over a fast backhaul and thus may constitute a first communication system resource group 805, while generalized cell 815 is connected to other generalized cells over a slow backhaul and may constitute a second communication system resource group 807 from the slow backhaul. Grouping can be performed for a first set of communication system resources such as channels, cell identities, etc.

Fig. 8b illustrates a detailed view of the grouping of communication system resources and the use of a set of communication system resources to support CA and/or CoMP communications. The first communication system resource may be divided into two communication system resource groups, communication

system resource groups

855 and 857. In communication system resource group 855, there may be communication system resources in two different component carriers associated with generalized cell 860 and generalized cell 862, and there may be communication system resources associated with generalized cell 865 in communication system resource group 857. Communication system resources may be utilized for communicating with UE 867.

The first communication system resources in the two different component carriers associated with generalized cell 860 may include PDSCH870 as indicated by PDCCH875, while the first communication system resources associated with generalized cell 862 may include PDSCH872 as indicated by PDCCH 877. Similarly, the first communication system resources associated with generalized cell 865 may include PDSCH895 indicated by PDCCH 897. For each set of communication system resources, a second set of communication system resources may be configured. As shown in fig. 8b, the second set of communication system resources associated with generalized cell 860 and generalized cell 862 can comprise PUCCH890, while the second set of communication system resources associated with generalized cell 865 can comprise PUCCH 899.

Fig. 9 illustrates a flow diagram of operations 900 that may occur in a centralized controller when the centralized controller is configured and/or in communication with a UE. Operation 900 may represent operations that may occur in a centralized controller when the centralized controller configures communications and/or communicates with UEs, e.g., the centralized controller is a separate entity or is co-located with another entity.

Operation 900 may begin with a centralized controller grouping cells of a communication system (block 905). The centralized controller groups cells of the communication system according to backhaul characteristics of cells involved in communications with the UE. The backhaul characteristics may include a delay of the backhaul connection, a delay threshold of the backhaul connection, a delay range of the backhaul connection, a data rate of the backhaul connection, a bandwidth of the backhaul connection, and so on. Referring to fig. 8a as an example, the centralized controller may divide the generalized cells into two groups: a first cell group including

generalized cells

810 and 812 because

generalized cells

810 and 812 are connected with a fast backhaul; and a second cell group including generalized cell 815 because the generalized cell 815 is connected with other generalized cells using a slow backhaul.

Referring now to fig. 9, a centralized controller can configure (or designate) a first set of communication system resources from a group of cells to form a communication system resource group (block 910). The centralized controller may configure the first set of communication system resources, e.g., channels (e.g., PDSCH, PDCCH, and/or EPDCCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, etc.), cell identifications (e.g., cell ID, virtual cell ID, etc.), and so on, from the cell group. As an illustrative example, the centralized controller may configure a channel for each cell group, where the channel configured for each cell group is a communication system resource group. Referring now to fig. 8a as an example, a centralized controller may configure channels for a first cell group and a second cell group to generate a communication system resource group 805 and a communication system resource group 807.

Referring now to fig. 9, the centralized controller may configure (or assign) a second set of communication system resources for each communication system resource group (block 915). Generally, one of the participants in a communication with (i.e., with) a first set of communication system resources can utilize a second set of communication system resources. For example, if the first set of communication system resources is a channel (e.g., PDSCH), the second set of communication system resources may be resources that allow the UE to send ACK/NACK back to one or more cells that sent data to the UE, where the data was sent over the channel (e.g., PDSCH).

The centralized controller may signal information to the UE regarding the set of communication system resources and the second set of communication system resources (block 920). For example, the information on the communication system resource group may be a value of a cell identification, a location of a resource of a channel, a scrambling code identification or a sequence identification of a channel, and the like. Similarly, the information about the second set of communication system resources can be a location of resources about the channel, a configuration of the communication system resources, and so forth. Alternatively, the centralized controller may provide information regarding the set of communication system resources and the set of second communication system resources to the eNB participating in the communication with the UE, and the eNB may signal the information to the UE. A centralized controller (e.g., an eNB) communicates using a set of communication system resources and a second set of communication system resources. The centralized controller and the UE may communicate using the set of communication system resources and a second set of communication system resources (block 925). For example, the centralized controller may transmit data to the UE using the set of communication system resources, and the centralized controller may receive feedback (e.g., an ACK or NACK) reflecting the decoding of the transmitted data.

Fig. 10a shows a flow diagram of operations 1000 occurring in a UE when the UE communicates with an eNB, where the communication uses CA or CoMP. Operation 1000 may represent operations occurring in a UE when the UE communicates with an eNB using CA and/or CoMP.

Operations 1000 may begin with a UE receiving information regarding a set of communication system resources (block 1005). The UE may receive information from the centralized controller. As described above, the information regarding the set of communication system resources may inform the UE of the first set of communication system resources configured according to the backhaul characteristics of the generalized cell involved in the communication with the UE. The first set of communication system resources can include channels (e.g., PDSCH, PDCCH, and/or EPDCCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, etc.), cell identifications (e.g., cell ID, virtual cell ID, etc.), and so forth. As an illustrative example, each communication system resource group may specify channels for one generalized cell or multiple generalized cells connected over a fast backhaul. For discussion purposes, consider the scenario shown in fig. 8a, where there are three generalized cells in communication with the UE.

Generalized cells

810 and 812 are connected over the fast backhaul, but generalized cell 815 is not connected. Accordingly, the first communication system resource group may include resources for

generalized cells

810 and 812, and the second communication system resource group may include resources for generalized cell 815. Accordingly, the UE may receive information on the first communication system resource group and the second communication system resource group.

Referring now to fig. 10a, the UE may receive information regarding a second set of communication system resources for each communication system resource group (block 1007). The UE may receive information from the centralized controller. As described above, a second set of communication system resources may be associated with each communication system resource group, and dynamic coordinated scheduling of DMRS for PDSCH and/or PUSCH, cross-carrier scheduling of PDSCH, etc. may be configured, e.g., by defining Downlink Control Information (DCI) in PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. Examples of the second communication system resource include a channel (e.g., PDCCH and/or EPDCCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, cell identification (e.g., UE ID, virtual UE ID, etc.), etc., a process, and so forth.

The UE may decode resources corresponding to the set of communication system resources (block 1009). As an illustrative example, if the set of communication system resources includes a channel, the UE may decode the channel to determine information sent to the UE over the channel. The UE may generate an ACK for each channel that the UE successfully decodes, and may generate a NACK for each channel that the UE fails to successfully decode. As another illustrative example, if the set of communication system resources includes a cell identity, the UE may decode the transmission identified using the cell identity. The UE may respond to the content of the resources corresponding to the communication system resource group using a second set of communication system resources associated with each communication system resource group (block 1011). As an illustrative example, if the set of communication system resources includes channels such as PDSCH and the second set of communication system resources includes channels such as PUCCH, the UE may feed back ACK/NACK information for transmissions received on PDSCH on PUCCH.

Fig. 10b shows a flowchart of operations 1050 that occur in a UE when the UE communicates with the eNB over PDSCH and PUCCH, where the communication uses CA or CoMP. Operation 1000 may represent operations occurring in a UE when the UE communicates with an eNB over PDSCH and PUCCH using CA and/or CoMP.

Operations 1000 may begin with the UE receiving information (a set of communication system resources) regarding channels such as PDSCH (block 1055). The UE may receive information from the centralized controller. The PDSCH may be used by multiple groups of generalized cells to transmit to the UE using CA and/or CoMP. The UE may receive information regarding channels of each communication system resource group (i.e., PUCCH as specified by the second communication system resource set) (block 1057). The UE may decode the PDSCH according to the received information about the channel (block 1059). The UE may generate an ACK for each channel that the UE successfully decodes, and may generate a NACK for each channel that the UE fails to successfully decode. For example, the UE may respond to decoding of the PDSCH using the PUCCH (the second set of communication system resources per communication system resource group) and/or the content of the PDSCH by transmitting an ACK and/or NACK (block 1061).

Fig. 11 illustrates a communication system resource 1100. Communication system resources 1100 include a first set of communication system resources of generalized cells involved in CA or CoMP communications with a UE, including resources 1105 associated with a first generalized cell ("cell 1") and resources 1107 ("cell") associated with a second generalized cell ("cell 2"). The first set of communication system resources includes channels, cell identities, and channels corresponding to HARQ processes in the cell. As shown in fig. 11, the first and second generalized cells may have their own PDCCH and/or PDSCH and HARQ processes. The communication system resources 1100 also include a second set of communication system resources including resources associated with the first generalized cell 1110 and resources associated with the second generalized cell 1112. As shown in fig. 11, the second set of communication system resources includes PUCCH resources available for ACK/NACK transmission or Scheduling Request (SR), PUSCH resources available for aperiodic Channel Quality Indication (CQI) reporting, and so on. It should be noted that each set of second communication system resources is associated with a set of communication system resources.

Fig. 12 shows a flow diagram of operations 1200 involved in an interaction of an eNB and a UE when the UE is engaged in communication using CA and/or CoMP. Operation 1200 may represent operations occurring in an eNB and a UE when the UE is engaged in communication with the eNB using CA and/or CoMP.

Operations 1200 may begin with an eNB signaling information regarding a set of communication system resources (e.g., a first set of communication system resources), such as a generalized cell identifier (e.g., cell identification, cell ID, virtual cell ID, etc.), channels, etc., to a UE (block 1205). For example, the eNB may signal information of which generalized cell identifiers are located within each communication system resource group. Since there are multiple sets of communication system resources, the eNB may signal multiple sets of generalized cell identifiers.

The eNB may also signal information regarding the second set of communication system resources to the UE (block 1205). For example, for each set of generalized cell identifiers, the second communication system resource may be a generalized UE identity, such as a UE ID, a virtual UE ID, and so on. In other words, each set of generalized cell identifiers may be independently assigned generalized UE identities. In general, within each set of generalized cell identifiers, there may be a single generalized UE identity. Channels using scrambling codes generated from generalized cell identities may use generalized UE identifiers. As an illustrative example, a PDCCH and/or EPDCCH associated with a generalized cell identity may use the corresponding generalized UE identity as a CRC mask (e.g., a 16-bit generalized UE identity may be added to a 16-bit CRC to generate a new CRC). It should be noted that although at a higher level, the two generalized cell identifiers may have the same value, they are in fact different generalized cell identifiers when examined closely, since the two generalized cell identifiers corresponding to the resources are sent on two different component carriers. As an illustrative example, a search space for PDCCH and/or EPDCCH may be determined by generalized UE identification, where the search space is used for blind UE detection of PDCCH and/or EPDCCH candidates.

Therefore, the generalized UE identities can be configured independently for different communication system resource groups, so that the generalized UE identities can be flexibly allocated in each communication system resource group. For example, if two sets of communication system resources are connected by slow backhaul, the configuration of generalized UE identities may be performed independently within each set of communication system resources and no coordination between the two sets of communication system resources is required to avoid allocation conflicts of generalized UE identities (the same generalized UE identity is allocated for each set of communication system resources).

This is generally undesirable since coordination over slow backhaul typically causes higher overhead, greater delay, and increased complexity. Therefore, a generalized UE identity allocation without coordination may be advantageous. According to example embodiments, since there is fast backhaul, the eNB easily coordinates generalized UE identity allocation without allocation conflict within each communication system resource group. However, when there is only slow backhaul, if the generalized UE identity of the first UE is assigned to the channel associated with the first generalized cell identity, then the first generalized UE identity may already be used by a second UE having another channel associated with the second generalized cell identity. Thus, if the second generalized cell identity is added to the set of generalized cell identities for transmission to the first UE, the first generalized UE identity from the first generalized cell identity may not be available in the generalized cell identity. However, independent allocation of generalized UE identities may avoid or reduce allocation conflicts of generalized UE identities or cross-coordinated signaling of generalized UE identities over slow backhaul. In general, when a generalized UE identity is allocated in a generalized cell, if other generalized cells need the information, the generalized UE identity may be provided to the other generalized cells to inform their own UEs.

According to alternative example embodiments, it is possible to divide the set of generalized UE identities into subsets, and each communication system resource group may assign generalized UE identities for UEs in an independent subset without requiring coordination or close communication between the communication system resource groups, since the subsets of generalized UE identities are disjoint. With this alternative example embodiment, a single UE identity may be configured across multiple communication system resource groups serving the UE without UE identity allocation conflicts. This alternative example embodiment may require little communication because the required communication is only used to signal a subset of the generalized UE identities to the plurality of communication system resource groups. This alternative example embodiment may introduce other network planning of UE identities and may have constraints on the allocation of UE identities in each communication system resource group.

The signaling of information about the set of communication system resources and/or the set of second communication system resources may be performed by higher layer signaling, e.g., by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or physical layer signaling, or by layer 1 and/or layer 2 signaling carried in a physical control channel.

The UE may receive information (block 1210). The UE may communicate with the eNB using resources in the communication system resource group and the second set of communication system resources (block 1215). For example, the UE may use these resources to transmit information on an uplink channel such as PUSCH. The scrambling code of the uplink channel can be derived from the generalized cell identity and generalized UE identity. For another example, the UE may receive information via resources of a downlink channel such as PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. Since the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH is scrambled using a scrambling code generated from the generic cell identification, the UE may generate a scrambling code according to the generalized cell identification, descramble signals received in the resources of the downlink, and decode the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. The UE may also perform a CRC check using the generalized UE identity because the CRC bits are masked by the generalized UE identity obtained from the eNB. If the CRC check passes, the UE may decide whether the decoding of PDCCH and/or EPDCCH is correct and provide feedback (ACK/NACK) accordingly.

Fig. 13 shows a diagram highlighting resources 1300 scheduled across cells. The resources 1300 include resources of a downlink frame 1305 transmitted by the first generalized cell and a downlink frame 1310 transmitted by the second generalized cell. In cross-cell scheduling, the eNB may signal information on a generalized cell identification group (an example of a first communication system resource set) and cross-cell scheduling information in PDCCH and/or EPDCCH associated with each communication system resource set by using resources associated with PDCCH and/or EPDCCH becoming a second communication system resource set. The information on cross-cell scheduling may be whether cross-cell scheduling of PDCCH and/or EPDCCH is used for a communication system resource group and/or which cell is selected as a primary generalized cell of the generalized cells, wherein the primary generalized cell of the generalized cells is a generalized cell transmitting PDCCH and/or EPDCCH scheduling the primary generalized cell and other generalized cells. In other words, the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH is transmitted in the resources of the primary generalized cell using a scrambling code generated from the generalized cell identity of the primary generalized cell. For each set of first communication system resources, cross-cell scheduling configuration of PDCCH and/or EPDCCH is allowed, but this does not imply that cross-cell scheduling configuration is required. As shown in fig. 13, the first generalized cell ("generalized cell 1") is the primary generalized cell, where PDCCH1315 schedules PDSCH1322 for the second generalized cell ("generalized cell 2") and PDCCH1317 schedules PDSCH1322 for the first generalized cell.

According to example embodiments, channels (or resources) associated with a generalized cell identity may be grouped according to a grouping of generalized cell identities. For example, channels associated with generalized cell identity groups may be grouped together. Examples of channels may be DMRS for EPDCCH, PDSCH, DMRS for PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, and so on. As specified in the 3GPP LTE and LTE-a specifications, a generalized cell identity and/or generalized UE identity may be used in the transport channel, where the generalized cell identity and/or generalized UE identity is typically used to generate a scrambling code for the transport channel.

According to another example embodiment, the channels (or resources) may be directly divided into several groups. For example, the eNB may signal the UE with channel type grouping information. In this case, the channel may be a first communication system resource, wherein the parameter of the channel is in signaling about the first communication system resource. As an illustrative example, the parameter for generating the scrambling code of the channel such as PDSCH may be one of the signaling of the first communication system resources. Furthermore, the parameters of the first communication system resources may be divided into several groups, wherein information about the grouping of parameters is signaled to the UE.

As an illustrative example, the eNB may signal grouping information regarding PDSCH (an example of the first communication system resource) transmitted by the communication system resource group. The parameter may include a virtual cell identity used to generate a scrambling code for the PDSCH. The eNB may also signal uplink ACK/NACK resources (an example of second communication system resources) for each PDSCH group. The information on the uplink ACK/NACK resource may indicate resource allocation of the second communication system resource. Within each PDSCH group, there may be multiple ACK/NACK resources allocated for sending ACK/NACK feedback, but there may be a single ACK/NACK resource or region in a single subframe for sending one or more ACK/NACK feedbacks for one or more PDSCHs of a single communication system resource group. For example, multiple ACK/NACK feedbacks may be jointly encoded and sent in ACK/NACK resources in a subframe. The UE may receive one or more PDSCHs and transmit one or more ACK/NACK feedbacks (one per PDSCH) in one of the ACK/NACK resources signaled by the eNB for the PDSCH group. By using ACK/NACK resources corresponding to the PDSCH group, multiple ACK/NACK feedbacks may be jointly encoded and transmitted using format 3 of the release 11 technical specification. Since cells with fast backhaul to other cells can dynamically control scheduling information on PDSCH within the same set of system resources, the cells know which ACK/NACKs are jointly coded and which information is available for decoding the ACK/NACKs. However, if there is slow backhaul, the cell may not know whether to schedule another cell to send the PDSCH. Thus, the cell may not be aware of the ACK/NACK information of other cells.

According to example embodiments, the grouping of channels may be for PDCCH and/or a subset of EPDCCH, DMRS of EPDCCH, or cell (these are examples of first communication system resources). There may be a single Scheduling Request (SR) resource signaled to the UE for each communication system resource group. However, there may be different SR resources signaled to the UE for different sets of communication system resources. In this case, the SR resource is a second communication system resource. After the UE receives the information on the generalized cell identity (an example of the first communication system resource) and the information on the SR, for the communication system resource group, the UE may transmit a specific scheduling request in the uplink SR resource to trigger the specific cell to transmit the uplink grant signal for the PUSCH. In general, this may be desirable because different types of uplink data may be for different receive groups. For example, some uplink data includes measurement reports for a particular cell group that utilizes this information for radio resource management, while other uplink data is for other cell groups for more efficient utilization of radio resources. The eNB may specify the use of scheduling resources associated with a cell group for a particular type of uplink data. Furthermore, for each group of cells, a separate Buffer Status Report (BSR) may be used to enable proper scheduling of PUSCH transmissions for different groups of cells. In other words, the BSR of a cell group is related to a particular type of uplink data of the cell group.

According to an alternative embodiment, the first communication system resource may be a generalized cell identity and the second communication resource may be signaling (or time advance signaling). The time advance signaling may be sent in MAC signaling. The timing advance signaling sent in the MAC signaling of any generalized cell within the generalized cell group may be considered to be valid. For example, regardless of which generalized cell is used to send time advance signaling within the generalized cell group, the UE may assume that the time advance signaling is applicable to adjust the uplink transmission time. There may be higher layer signaling to inform the UE that one of the generalized cells may be a generalized cell specifically sending time advance signaling. In this case, the other generalized cells in the generalized cell group may not need to transmit the time advance signaling. When there are multiple generalized cell groups, higher layer signaling may be used to indicate which generalized cell group to select for signaling time advance signaling. Alternatively, there may be multiple time advance signallings for different uplink transport channels.

Once the UE receives the time advance signaling, the UE may transmit an uplink channel such as PUSCH using a time adjusted according to the time advance signaling. The time advance for adjusting the uplink transmission time may be the same as specified in release 11. As an illustrative example, a downlink time reference plus a time advance may be used to determine the uplink transmission time.

According to an alternative embodiment, the first communication system resource may be a generalized cell identity and the uplink transmission power may be a second communication system resource. The signaling of uplink transmit power may use Po and alpha, etc. (as specified in the 3GPP TS36.213 specification, which is incorporated herein by reference) uplink open loop power control parameters and closed loop Transmit Power Commands (TPC). Within a generalized set of cells, the UE may assume that the parameters and TPC are valid and have the same values. Typically, the TPC is carried in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. If there are multiple PDCCHs and/or EPDCCHs informing of the same TPC transmitted by the eNB, the UE may acquire the TPC using any one of the PDCCHs and/or EPDCCHs. Alternatively, one of the generalized cells in the generalized cell group may be selected to transmit the TPC. In this case, the TPC bits of other generalized cells may be reused for other purposes, for example, to indicate resource allocation of ACK/NACK resources. The UE may transmit the uplink PUSCH and/or PUCCH at the level adjusted by the TPC.

Fig. 14 shows a diagram highlighting the PUCCH and the resources 1400 of the PUCCH embedded in PUSCH. Generally, grouping of generalized cells according to backhaul characteristics helps to solve problems that arise when one UE is simultaneously served by multiple generalized cells of a fast backhaul, a slow backhaul, or a combined connection. It should be noted that in the Rel-8, Rel-9, Rel-10 and Rel-11 specifications, a UE may only be served by multiple generalized cells of a fast backhaul connection at the same time. For example, in Rel-8, periodic CSI reporting uses PUCCH and aperiodic CSI reporting uses PUSCH. If the UE is not for simultaneous PUSCH and PUCCH transmission, then in a subframe with PUSCH allocation, the UE may perform periodic CSI reporting on the PUSCH of its serving cell with the smallest ServCellIndex, where the 3GPP TS36.213 specification defines that the UE may use the same PUCCH-based periodic CSI reporting format on the PUSCH. However, embedding PUCCH content in PUSCH is generally only applicable when PUCCH and PUSCH are for the same eNB or multiple generalized cells connected over a fast backhaul.

Assuming that a first generalized cell transmits PDSCH to a UE, a second generalized cell receives PUSCH from the same UE, and the first generalized cell and the second generalized cell are connected by an arbitrary backhaul (fast backhaul or slow backhaul). The UE may need to report ACK/NACK feedback and CSI to the first generalized cell in PUCCH, which may be consistent with PUSCH transmission. However, in this case, embedding the contents of PUCCH in PUSCH is not preferred as they are for different generalized cells that are not connected by fast backhaul. Accordingly, some portions of the scalable LTE and/or LTE-a specifications have included group concepts. For example, PUCCH and PUSCH problems may be addressed as follows:

if the UE is not used for simultaneous PUSCH and PUCCH transmission, the UE may send periodic CSI reports or ACK/NACK feedback on the PUSCH of its serving cell with the smallest ServCellIndex (which is the serving cell identification defined in the 3GPP technical specification) in a subframe with PUSCH allocation within the same generalized cell group of PUCCH transmission.

According to alternative embodiments, the first communication system resource may be a generalized cell identity or an uplink PUCCH and/or PUSCH channel. The signaling information about the first communication system resource may be a parameter for PUCCH and/or PUSCH transmission, such as a sequence group identification for PUCCH transmission or a virtual cell identification for generating a scrambling code for PUCCH and/or PUSCH. The eNB may signal the UE with a grouping of resources of the first communication system. For example, the parameters of the first communication system resource may be divided into a plurality of parameter groups and information about the plurality of parameter groups may be signaled to the UE. The second communication system resource group can be PUCCH and/or PUSCH resources, or Uplink Control Information (UCI) such as periodic CSI report and/or ACK/NACK feedback. The information signaled about the second communication system resources may be whether simultaneous transmission of PUCCH channel and PUSCH channel is configured per communication system resource group or whether UCI is transmitted in PUCCH or PUSCH when there is PUCCH and PUSCH collision. In other words, each communication system resource group may need to be signaled. Alternatively, the information on the second communication system resource may be whether simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH channel and the PUSCH channel is used for all communication system resource groups. In other words, the signaling is applicable to all communication system resource groups.

Based on the information on the set of communication system resources and the information on the simultaneous transmission of PUCCH and PUSCH, the UE may decide whether to embed the content of PUCCH into PUSCH for transmission purposes. If simultaneous transmission of PUCCH and PUSCH is configured with a communication system resource group, the UE may transmit PUCCH and PUSCH simultaneously if both are located within the same communication system resource group. If simultaneous transmission of PUCCH and PUSCH does not configure a communication system resource group, the UE may embed the contents of PUCCH into PUSCH for transmission if both PUCCH and PUSCH are located within the same communication system resource group. And if the PUCCH and the PUSCH are not in the same communication system resource group, the PUCCH is not embedded into the PUSCH for transmission. If both PUCCH and PUSCH are not within the same communication system resource group, either PUCCH and PUSCH or one of the channels (PUCCH or PUSCH) may be transmitted or dropped based on UE capabilities and/or eNB configuration.

As shown in fig. 14, CQI/ACK1407 is signaling embedded in PUSCH1405 for transmission. PUSCH1405 and PUCCH1410 may be sent simultaneously if CQI/ACK1407 is not embedded in PUSCH 1405. If PUSCH1405 and PUCCH1410 are used for different sets of communication system resources of the first communication system resource, then for PUSCH1405 and PUCCH1410 there is no fast backhaul expected between the receiving cells, which means that it is difficult to schedule resources for PUSCH transmission to ensure that the resources of PUSCH1405 and PUCCH1420 at the receiving cell are orthogonal. In this case, if the content of the PUCCH is embedded (i.e., CQI/ACK1407) into PUSCH1405 for transmission, the signaling of CQI/ACK1407 may be interfered at the point of reception. Thus, in the case of having different sets of communication system resources, no embedding is used.

According to an alternative embodiment, each set of communication system resources may be implicitly formed. For example, the primary cell of the UE may configure other communication system resources to the UE. These other communication system resources may include secondary component carriers, virtual cells on the primary cell, secondary carriers in the form of virtual cell identifications for scrambled data transmissions and associated reference signals, non-compliant carriers or cells, and so forth. The other communication system resources and the resources associated with the primary cell may form a set of communication system resources within which a tight connection to transmissions and/or receptions to and/or from the UE may be made. As another example, cross-carrier and/or cross-cell scheduling may be enabled to schedule downlink and/or uplink data transmissions from one carrier or cell to another carrier or cell through dynamic indication of transmission carriers and/or scrambling parameters within a communication system resource set. As another example, there is a single ACK/NACK resource or region for transmitting one or more ACK/NACKs of one or more PDSCHs within a set of communication system resources.

Another primary cell may be added or activated for the UE to form a new set of communication system resources. For example, a UE may be first associated with a macro cell and a pico cell may be subsequently added that is not connected to the macro cell through a fast backhaul. When adding a pico cell as a communication resource for a UE, signaling may be needed to indicate that it is a cell that is not part of the set of communication system resources including the primary cell. The newly added cell may become another primary cell that may configure more resources and/or cells to form another set of communication system resources. Between the multiple primary cells, a single primary cell may become a leading or anchor cell due to functions of mobility management, key generation for ciphering purposes, primary RRC connection, etc.

Fig. 15 shows a flow diagram of operations 1500 involved in an interaction between an eNB and a UE when the UE is engaged in communication using CA and/or CoMP and the eNB signals information about the communication using higher layer signaling. Operation 1500 may represent operations that occur in an eNB and a UE when the UE is engaged in communication using CA and/or CoMP and the eNB signals information regarding the communication using higher layer signaling.

The operations 1500 may begin with the eNB sending information regarding a set of communication system resources using higher layer signaling (block 1505). The set of communication system resources may include groupings of the first set of communication system resources, such as channels, generalized cell identities, and so on, according to backhaul characteristics. For each communication system resource group (e.g., of a generalized cell identity), a scrambling code set for DMRS for PDSCH or PUSCH may be defined according to a technical specification and/or rules predefined by higher layer signaling. For example, the scrambling code of the DMRS of the PDSCH corresponding to the generalized cell identity "X" may be a subset of all scrambling codes of the DMRS of the PDSCH, which are derived from generalized cell identities within a single generalized cell identity group containing the generalized cell identity "X". In general, the generalized cell identity "X" may be any valid generalized cell identity. The subset of all scrambling codes may be configured by higher layer signaling, such as UE-specific RRC signaling. For example, a bitmap approach may be used to inform which scrambling codes form a subset of all scrambling codes.

The eNB may transmit a physical channel (block 1510). The physical channel may be a PDCCH and/or EPDCCH carrying an indicator of information about a scrambling code of the PDSCH or PUSCH. For transmission of PDCCH and/or EPDCCH associated with a generalized cell identity "X", there may be signaling in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH to indicate which of the scrambling code sets is selected for PDCCH and/or EPDCCH scheduled PDSCH or DMRS of the PUSCH.

The UE may receive information regarding a communication system resource group and a PDCCH and/or EPDCCH (block 1515). The UE may correctly interpret an indicator of information regarding scrambling codes in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH (also block 1515). For example, the UE may determine a set of scrambling codes for each communication system resource group, and based on selection signaling in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH, the UE may determine which scrambling code the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH selects.

The eNB and the UE may communicate according to information contained in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH (block 1520). For example, the UE may receive DMRSs for PDSCH indicated by PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. For another example, the UE may transmit the DMRS for the PUSCH indicated by the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH using a scrambling code indicated by the information in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH.

According to an alternative embodiment, in block 1505, the first communication system resource may be a generalized cell identity, followed by a sequence set of uplink DMRSs, which may be a sequence set derived from a subset of generalized cell identities within the same generalized cell identity group with generalized cell identity "X", according to a predefined rule and/or higher layer signaling based communication system resource group (e.g., generalized cell identity group).

Further, in block 1510, signaling in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH may be used to indicate which DMRS is selected (scrambling code) for the PUSCH of the UE. In block 1515, the UE may receive information on the generalized cell identity and PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. The UE may translate sequence group indicator information regarding the DMRS. In block 1520, the UE may transmit the uplink DMRS using the sequences of the sequence group signaled to the UE. The use of sequence sets for DMRS may be similar to that defined in LTE-a.

According to an alternative embodiment, the information on the set of communication system resources may be the set of parameters of the DMRS of the PDSCH or the set of parameters of the DMRS of the PUSCH in block 1505. These parameters may be used to determine a scrambling code of the DMRS of the PDSCH or may be used to determine a sequence set of the DMRS of the PUSCH. The eNB may signal information about which parameters are within a single group and there may be multiple sets of parameters for signaling.

In block 1510, the eNB may send a control channel, such as a PDCCH and/or EPDCCH channel, to the UE. For each control channel, there is a set of parameter sets associated with the control channel. For each generalized cell, there is a predefined PDCCH and/or EPDCCH and/or there may be signaling to inform the UE about the information of the control channel. There may be signaling in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH for selecting a parameter from a set of parameters related to DMRS related to the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. The signaling format used in PDCCH and/or EPDCCH may be defined in the technical specification.

In block 1515, the UE may receive information regarding the set of communication system resources, including information regarding the parameters of the DMRS. The UE may decode PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. It should be noted that the signaling format of PDCCH and/or EPDCCH may be defined in a technical specification, and the correspondence between PDCCH and/or EPDCCH and the respective parameter sets of DMRS may be defined in a technical specification and/or signaled by higher layer signaling. For example, the signaling format and correspondence may be associated with a generalized cell identity. The UE may know the parameter set for each PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. The UE may translate signaling for uplink transmission or downlink reception based on selection information in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. In block 1520, the UE may transmit or receive the DMRS according to signaling in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH.

The grouping of the generalized cell identity and the grouping of the parameters of the DMRS may be performed separately. In other words, it is possible to have two separate information signallings, one for grouping of generalized cell identities and another for grouping of parameters of DMRS. Since DMRS may be configured with cells outside of the current serving generalized cell set, separate information signaling may be beneficial in CoMP operations. Thus, there is additional flexibility for configuring DMRS sets for dynamic variation. On the other hand, if two generalized cells are located in two different component carriers, the UE may not need to dynamically change the DMRS between the DMRSs of the two generalized cells, since the DMRSs are typically orthogonal in the frequency domain. Therefore, the grouping of DMRSs may be related to whether two generalized cells operate at the same frequency, which is another reason to separately group the generalized cell identity and DMRS.

According to alternative embodiments, the set of communication system resources may be CSI-RS resources and/or CRS resources. In block 1505, the eNB may signal information regarding a communication system resource group of CSI-RS and/or CRS resources to the UE, where examples of the information may be parameters regarding grouping of CSI-RS and/or CRS resources. CRS resources may be used for CQI measurements. For example, some cells may be configured with CRS resources for measurement, while some other cells may be configured with CSI-RS resources for measurement.

In block 1510, control signaling, such as PDCCH and/or EPDCCH, may be a trigger for aperiodic CQI reporting. For each communication system resource group of CSI-RS and/or CRS resources, a trigger control channel, such as PDCCH and/or EPDCCH, may be present as a trigger for a single aperiodic CQI feedback. In order for the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH to trigger aperiodic CQI feedback, there may be a bit field to indicate which CSI-RS and/or CRS resources to request for aperiodic CQI feedback. However, the trigger control channel may be different for different sets of communication system resources of CSI-RS and/or CRS resources. In other words, the trigger control channel can be configured independently for different sets of communication system resources. The configuration of PDCCH and/or EPDCCH for aperiodic CQI feedback may be defined or signaled to the UE in the technical specification. For example, the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH may be transmitted by a primary generalized cell in each generalized cell group associated with the communication system resource group (e.g., the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH may be transmitted by a generalized cell associated with the CSI-RS and/or CRS resources), where the primary generalized cell may be a cell within each group of generalized cells defined by rules or signaled to the UE through higher layer signaling with a minimum generalized cell identity.

In block 1515, the UE may decode the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH according to the received information about the communication system resource group to trigger an aperiodic CQI report. Since the UE knows information about the set of communication system resources and, for each set of communication system resources, there may be a PDCCH and/or EPDCCH to dynamically indicate which CSI-RS and/or CRS measurements to report, a signaling format in the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH may be defined in the technical specification to indicate which CSI-RS and/or CRS to select. Thus, the UE knows how to decode PDCCH and/or EPDCCH to trigger aperiodic CQI reporting.

In block 1520, the UE may send a CQI report for CSI-RS and/or CRS resources indicated by the PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. It should be noted that signaling with respect to grouping of generalized cell identities and signaling with respect to a set of communication system resources of CSI-RS and/or CRS resources may be performed separately. Multiple CSI-RS and/or CRS resources may be used to provide flexibility to use transparent CoMP transmission, even for one generalized cell group. Since a single generalized cell identity may be configured for a generalized cell set, the UE may not need to distinguish different cells from different generalized cells. The grouping of CSI-RS and/or CRS resources may be configured as a measurement set of CSI feedback associated with the generalized cell identification group. Multiple measurement sets for CSI feedback may be configured. Other configurations of each CSI feedback (aperiodic or periodic) may require indication of CSI-RS and/or CRS resources from a measured set of resources. It may be necessary to inform the UE whether the appropriate PUCCH (for periodic feedback) or PUSCH (for aperiodic feedback or periodic feedback embedded in PUSCH) is located in the configuration of the measurement set of resources or in the configuration of CSI feedback. The UE may be informed of the appropriate PUCCH or PUSCH by indicating the corresponding generalized cell identity group or explicit configuration parameters.

According to an example embodiment, dynamic scheduling may be performed within each set of communication system resources. For example, dynamic DMRS selection or change for PDSCH and/or PUSCH. In addition, cross-cell scheduling is performed within each communication system member group to obtain cross-cell scheduling advantages within the communication system resource group. For example, cross-cell scheduling may support frequency domain interference coordination or spatial domain interference coordination of control channels.

For example, since each group may use the same generalized UE identity, it is possible to simplify the communication system by reducing the signaling overhead, which is related to the generalized UE identity. Since multiple communication system resource groups have multiple generalized UE identities, it is possible to avoid complex UE identity allocation coordination or avoid allocation conflicts. Furthermore, by using a single aperiodic CQI triggering scheme for PDCCH and/or EPDCCH of a communication system resource set, overhead is reduced and support is provided for dynamic triggering of CSI-RS measurements for each CSI-RS within the communication system resource set. Further, by performing ACK/NACK resource allocation for each communication system resource group, it is possible to reduce an uplink peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) or cubic amount using a multiplexing technique with a plurality of ACK/NACKs while maintaining flexibility of ACK/NACK resource allocation for different communication system resource groups.

According to an example embodiment, generalized cell identities may be grouped. The generalized cell identity may not correspond to an actual cell and may not be used for the UE to detect the actual cell. Grouping generalized cell identities may reduce UE complexity, especially when it relates to UE-specific signaling or UE-specific RRC signaling.

According to an example embodiment, second communication system resources may be processed according to a communication system resource group to reduce coordination and/or processing requirements for backhaul availability and capability. As with the communication system resource group, backhaul availability and capabilities may also play a role in the coordination and/or processing of the second communication system resources. For example, if two cells are not connected by a fast backhaul, scheduling requests or buffer status reports received by a cell may not be easily communicated to another cell over the backhaul. Therefore, even if a cell is informed of a scheduling request or a buffer status report from a UE, if two cells are not connected by a fast backhaul, the other cell may not be easily informed. Thus, the second communication system resources per communication system resource group can be processed to reduce coordination and/or processing through the backhaul. However, if the backhaul link is fast enough and there is coordination and/or processing capability, it is possible to simplify the design of the communication system resource set.

As an illustrative example, a UE may be associated with a set of generalized cell identities, channels, resources, and communication system resource groups. However, according to Rel-8, the UE has only one compatible cell to support the full functionality or characteristics of the actual cell. A cell group containing compatible cells may be considered a master cell group, while other cell groups may be classified as secondary cell groups. The master cell group and the secondary cell group may be indicated to the UE explicitly or implicitly.

Semi-static coordination across cell groups is typically supported. For example, Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC), enhanced ICIC, another enhanced ICIC, Coordinated Beam Blanking (CBB), Interference Measurement Resource (IMR) coordination, and other coordination techniques that do not require fast backhaul may be supported by using corresponding signaling supported and defined over the backhaul. In general, each cell group has its own group-specific resources. However, cross-bank operations are not necessarily excluded. For example, the first cell group may signal the UE to configure the second cell group for the UE. In other words, the configuration of the second cell group does not have to come from the resources of the second cell group and the channel. An example application may be when the UE is first configured with a first cell group and the UE receives a configuration for a second cell group before establishing a connection or receiving a signal from the second cell group. The first cell group (which may be the master cell group of the UE) may change the configuration of the second cell group (which may be the secondary cell group of the UE) if necessary, although the second cell group may also be allowed to change its own configuration or the configuration of other secondary cell groups.

Communications system resources may be configured in increments using signaling that is typically used to carry information about a set of communications system resources. For example, a UE may have multiple resource groups, and then more resources may become available for the UE. The new resources may be assigned to an existing set of communication system resources or may be assigned to a new set of communication system resources. In general, the assignment of new resources may require signaling to support the addition, removal, or modification of resource configurations for a set of communication system resources. Implicit and/or explicit grouping and implicit and/or explicit indexing of groupings and/or groups can facilitate this process.

Fig. 16 illustrates a communication system 1600 that highlights resource management. The communication system 1600 comprises a first set of communication system resources 1605, the first set of communication resources 1605 comprising generalized cell identities associated with the eNB or connected to the eNB by a fast backhaul. The generalized cell identities in the first communication system resource group 1605 include: cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, virtual cell 4, and virtual cell 5. The communication system 1600 further comprises a second communication system resource set 1610, the second communication system resource set 1610 comprising a generalized cell identity: cell 6, cell 7, cell 8, cell 9, and virtual cell 10. The first communication system resource group 1605 and the second communication system resource group 1610 can be connected by a slow backhaul 1615. As shown in fig. 16, the first communication system resource set 1605 includes one ACK/NACK resource, one SR resource, one aperiodic trigger, and generalized UE identity 201, and the second communication system resource set 1610 includes one ACK/NACK resource, one SR resource, one aperiodic trigger, and generalized UE identity 202. The first communication system resource group 1605 and the second communication system resource group 1610 can communicate with the UE 1620.

Figure 17a shows an example communication configuration using CoMP. As shown in fig. 17a, generalized cell identities (or generalized virtual cell identities) associated with a single eNB or multiple enbs connected by a fast backhaul may be grouped into communication system resource groups with one ACK/NACK resource per communication system resource group.

Figure 17b shows an example communication configuration using CA and CoMP. As shown in fig. 17b, the grouping of the first communication system resources is scalable and simplifies the scheme of integrating multiple communication system resources (e.g., component carriers, cells, virtual cells, etc.) connected by a fast backhaul or an arbitrary backhaul. The eNB may signal several ACK/NACK resource allocations, where each ACK/NACK resource allocation is for a set of HARQ processes within one subframe. Within each ACK/NACK resource, ACK/NACK feedback may be sent using binary phase shift keying, quadrature phase shift keying, and/or DFT-S-OFDM. The eNB may signal several sets of cell identities and/or virtual cell identities, where each set includes one or more HARQ processes for PDSCH and/or PUSCH indicated by one or more PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. Within each set of HARQ processes, cross-cell scheduling may be used.

There may be an assigned UE identity for each group of HARQ processes or each group of PDCCH and/or EPDCCH. The UE identity may be assigned by the eNB or an entity in the communication system. In other words, the UE identities of each group are assigned independently. This is in contrast to Rel-10 and Rel-11, where the UE identities of multiple component carriers or multiple cells are the same. With arbitrary backhaul, it is difficult to coordinate UE identity assignment between two cells without fast backhaul. Thus, independent UE identity assignment may be utilized per group. It is easy to coordinate UE identity assignment within each group, and therefore the same UE identity can be used for multiple cells within a single group. The UE identity (other than at the primary cell) may be used as PDCCH and/or EPDCCH CRC mask and may not have the full functionality of the actual UE identity, i.e. the cell radio network temporary identity (C-RNTI).

It is possible for the eNB to signal several sets of CSI-RS and/or CRS resource groups for measurement purposes and have each CSI-RS and/or CRS resource correspond to a CQI measurement. For example, the eNB may use PDCCH and/or EPDCCH to trigger aperiodic CQI reporting for sets of CSI-RS resources within each set of CSI-RS and/or CRS resources, thereby reusing the Rel-10 scheme for multiple cell CQI feedback.

It is also possible to assign scheduling request resources to the UE for each group of communication system resources. Within each communication system resource group, a single scheduling request resource is sufficient, since scheduling is typically performed across cells of a single communication system resource group. For different sets of communication system resources, different scheduling request resources may be assigned to distinguish between different uplink transmission requirements. The eNB may determine the transmission of PDCCH and/or EPDCCH according to different scheduling requests sent by the UE.

Coordination and/or processing between cells not connected by the fast backhaul may be avoided and/or reduced. For example, if the allocation of UE identities, aperiodic CQI feedback, downlink and/or uplink grant transmissions, PDSCH transmissions, etc. involves cells that are not connected by the fast backhaul, the allocation of UE identities, aperiodic CQI feedback, downlink and/or uplink grant transmissions, PDSCH transmissions, etc. may be avoided.

Within a communication system resource group, complexity may be reduced (or effectiveness may be increased) based on the assumption that joint scheduling is performed within the communication system resource group.

The communication system resources may be divided into groups, where coordination and/or processing may be performed within each group as with Rel-11 and prior art standards (i.e., legacy operations). However, between groups, different modes of operation are used to enable deployment of arbitrary backhauls. In general, the UE does not need to know whether to use the fast backhaul or the arbitrary backhaul, since UE-specific signaling is used to inform the UE of the configuration of the multiple sets of resources.

Fig. 18 shows a first communication device 1800. The communication device 1800 may be an embodiment of a control device such as an eNB or a centralized controller that configures communication system resources according to backhaul characteristics. The communication device 1800 may be used to implement the various embodiments discussed herein. As shown in fig. 18, a transmitter 1805 is configured to transmit a packet, information regarding a set of communication system resources, and/or the like. The communication device 1800 also includes a receiver 1810 for receiving packets or the like.

The resource configuration unit 1820 is configured to specify the first communication system resource according to the backhaul characteristics to form a communication system resource group. The resource configuration unit 1820 is configured to specify a second set of communication system resources for each communication system resource group. The signal generation unit 1822 is configured to generate signaling for information regarding the set of communication system resources, the set of second communication system resources, and/or the like for transmission to the UE. The memory 1830 is employed to store information and/or configurations for a first communication system resource, a set of communication system resources, a set of second communication system resources, and/or the like.

Elements of the communication device 1800 may be implemented as specific hardware logic blocks. In alternative embodiments, elements of the communication device 1800 may be implemented as software executing in a processor, controller, application specific integrated circuit, or the like. In yet another alternative embodiment, the elements of the communication device 1800 may be implemented as a combination of software and/or hardware.

For example, receiver 1810 and transmitter 1805 may be implemented as specific hardware blocks, while resource configuration unit 1820 and signal generation unit 1822 may be software modules executed in a microprocessor (e.g., processor 1815) or a custom compiled logic array of custom circuits or field programmable logic arrays. The resource configuration unit 1820 and the signal generation unit 1822 may be modules stored in the memory 1830.

Fig. 19 shows a second communication device 1900. The communications device 1900 may be an embodiment of a UE. Communications device 1900 may be used to implement various embodiments discussed herein. As shown in fig. 19, the transmitter 1905 can be configured to transmit packets, information utilizing one or more sets of second communication system resources, and/or the like. The communications device 1900 also includes a receiver 1910 for receiving the package, information regarding the set of communications system resources, and the like.

The information processing unit 1920 is configured to process information on a communication system resource group formed by configuring the first communication system resource set according to the backhaul feature. The information processing unit 1920 is configured to process information on a set of second communication system resources, each communication system resource group having one set of second communication system resources. The transport decoding unit 1922 is used to decode signals of resources as specified by the information regarding the set of communication system resources and the second set of communication system resources. The memory 1930 can be employed to store information and/or configuration of a first communication system resource, a set of communication system resources, a set of second communication system resources, and/or the like.

Elements of communications device 1900 may be implemented as specific hardware logic blocks. In alternative embodiments, the elements of the communications device 1900 may be implemented as software executing in a processor, controller, application specific integrated circuit, or the like. In yet another alternative embodiment, the elements of the communications device 1900 may be implemented as a combination of software and/or hardware.

For example, the receiver 1910 and the transmitter 1905 may be implemented as specific hardware blocks, while the information processing unit 1920 and the transmission decoding unit 1922 may be software modules executed in a microprocessor (e.g., the processor 1915) or a custom compiled logic array of a custom circuit or field programmable logic array. The information processing unit 1920 and the transmission decoding unit 1922 may be modules stored in the memory 1930.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A resource allocation method applied to a network comprising a plurality of cell groups is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the control equipment sends the information of the first communication system resource group of each cell group to the user equipment; the information of the first communication system resource group comprises cell identification of cells in the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group;

the control equipment sends the information of the second communication system resource corresponding to each first communication system resource group to the user equipment; wherein the information of the second communication system resource comprises: information indicating whether the cell group corresponding to the second communication system resource allows simultaneous transmission of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or a generalized user equipment identifier of the cell group corresponding to the second communication system resource.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information for the first communication system resource group further comprises information for channels configured for the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the channel comprises the PUCCH and the PUSCH.

4. The method of claim 1,

the information of the first communication system resource group also comprises information of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process configured to the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group;

the information of the second communication system resource further includes information of a channel for HARQ feedback configured to the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information for the second communication system resource further comprises a buffer status report configured for the group of cells corresponding to the first communication system resource group.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the information of the second communication system resources further comprises information for indicating that the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group is scheduled across cells on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH).

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein each of the second communication system resources is independently configured for each of the first communication system resource groups.

8. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the plurality of cell groups are partitioned according to characteristics of a backhaul connection.

9. A resource allocation method applied to a network comprising a plurality of cell groups is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the user equipment receives information of a first communication system resource group of each cell group from the control equipment; wherein the information of the first communication system resource comprises a cell identifier of a cell in the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group;

the user equipment receives information of second communication system resources corresponding to each first communication system resource group from the control equipment; wherein the information of the second communication system resource comprises: information indicating whether the cell group corresponding to the second communication system resource allows simultaneous transmission of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or a generalized user equipment identifier of the cell group corresponding to the second communication system resource.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the information for the first communication system resource group further comprises information for channels configured for the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the channel comprises the PUCCH and the PUSCH.

12. The method of claim 9,

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the information for the second communication system resource further comprises a buffer status report configured for the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the information of the second communication system resources further comprises information indicating that the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group is scheduled across cells on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH).

15. The method of any of claims 9-14, wherein each of the second communication system resources is independently configured for each of the first communication system resource groups.

16. The method of any of claims 9-14, wherein the plurality of cell groups are partitioned according to characteristics of a backhaul connection.

17. A control apparatus, characterized by comprising: a processing unit and a transceiver unit; the processing unit is used for sending the information of the first communication system resource group of each cell group to the user equipment through the transceiving unit; the information of the first communication system resource group comprises cell identification of cells in the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group;

the processing unit is further configured to send, to the user equipment, information of a second communication system resource corresponding to each first communication system resource group through the transceiving unit; wherein the information of the second communication system resource comprises: information indicating whether the cell group corresponding to the second communication system resource allows simultaneous transmission of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or a generalized user equipment identifier of the cell group corresponding to the second communication system resource.

18. The control apparatus of claim 17, wherein the information on the first communication system resource group further includes information on channels configured to the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group.

19. The control device of claim 18, wherein the channel comprises the PUCCH and the PUSCH.

20. The control apparatus according to claim 17,

21. The control device of claim 17, wherein the information on the second communication system resources further comprises a buffer status report configured for the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group.

22. The control device of claim 17, wherein the information of the second communication system resources further includes information indicating that the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group is scheduled across cells on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH).

23. The control device according to any one of claims 17 to 22, wherein each of the second communication system resources is independently configured for each of the first communication system resource groups.

24. The control apparatus of any of claims 17-22, wherein the plurality of cell groups are partitioned according to characteristics of a backhaul connection.

25. User equipment, comprising a processing unit and a transceiving unit;

the processing unit is used for receiving information of the first communication system resource group of each cell group from the control equipment through the transceiving unit; wherein the information of the first communication system resource comprises a cell identifier of a cell in the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group;

the processing unit is further configured to receive, from the control device through the receiving unit, information of a second communication system resource corresponding to each of the first communication system resource groups; wherein the information of the second communication system resource comprises: information indicating whether the cell group corresponding to the second communication system resource allows simultaneous transmission of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), or a generalized user equipment identifier of the cell group corresponding to the second communication system resource.

26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the information for the first CS resource group further includes information for channels configured for the cell group corresponding to the first CS resource group.

27. The user equipment of claim 26, wherein the channel comprises the PUCCH and the PUSCH.

28. The user equipment of claim 25,

29. The UE of claim 25, wherein the information about the second CS resource further comprises a buffer status report for the cell group corresponding to the first CS resource group.

30. The UE of claim 25, wherein the information about the second communication system resources further comprises information indicating that the cell group corresponding to the first communication system resource group is scheduled across cells on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH).

31. The user equipment of any one of claims 25-30, wherein each of the second communication system resources is independently configured for each of the first communication system resource groups.

32. The user equipment of any of claims 25-30, wherein the plurality of cell groups are partitioned according to characteristics of a backhaul connection.